Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-08-25
NEW VESSELS FOR THE NAVY.


! '"A''' hftittAtiNA's
The Philadelphia Ledger gives the fol.
/ lowing account of the progress of work
on new vessels for the navy now in course
of construction at Cramps shipyard,
/ Philadelphia:
The Secretary OF the Navy has assigned
/ To Chief Engineer George w. Melville the
duty OF inspecting the machinery of the
| dynamite gunboat now under construo-
/ tion at the shipyard of William Cramp d
/ Sons, in addition 20 the duties previously
assigned to him az that place These
vessels are now being constructed for the
! Uulted States government by the Messrs
Cramp-the Baltimore, a large protective
deck cruiser; gunboat No. l, not yet
named, and the dynamite gunbeat. The
frame work (all steel) of the Baltimore
and gunboat No. is all erected, and con
siderable of the steel plating has been
| put on. Work on the dynamite gunboat
has gone as far as the placing of the sup
ports for the kee!. This boat is TO be
completed twelve months from the date
of the contract, February IL, 1887, and
the Baltimore eighteen months from the
date of the contract, January l of this
year
II is said that if the dynamite gunboat
should be the success that is eypexed. a
great change in the methods of naval
warfare will follow. trial of the vessel
is to be made in the Delaware river or
bay under conditions prescribed by the
Secretary of the Navy. The speed of the
vessel must be not less than 20 knots per
hour. The armament is to comprise
three Pneumatic dynamite guns, 55 feet
long, of 10l5 inches caliber, and capable
of throwing shells containing 200 pounds
of dynamite or othAr high explosive at
a mile, and of being discharged at least
once in every two minutes. The project
ing force Is to be compressed air. The
shell ~ to have two sets of fuses, one for
impact and the other for immersion.
The impact fuses will have mechanism
to delay action for any desired time after
striking, and the immersion fuses are to
be capable of adjustment for either time
or depth of immersion. The mechanism
for either i'm pact or immersion will work
pin which will strike the illuminate.
The dynamite shell will be an elongat-
ed coEoid about eight inches in diameter,
and forty inches long. lt Is said that
| experiments have shown that if the shells
were projected with powder the guns
would be blown to pieces. Momentum
ia not au object in the projecting, as il
is the explosion and not the force with
which the shell strikes that does the
| damage. The range of the shell is not
regulated by changing the position of
the gun, but by increasing or decreasing
the air pressure. The gun is neither
elevated nor depressed. This is said to
| be the first boat built TO carry a dynamite
gun, and it is said to be largely expert
mental, although there is confidence that
! it will be successful. 1t was stated IN
Congress when the appropriation was
being considered that the experiment
was well worth trying, anyhow The con
tract price OF the vessel, exclusive of the
armament, is $S50,000.
The Baltimore, il is said, will be larger
than any other iron cruiser now in the
navy. The contract price, without the
armament, is $l,325,000. Its length will
be 3lb feet; breadth, 4S feet 8 inches;
depth of hold from the top of the main
deck beams to the inner bottom, % feet
| llSa inches; displacement, 1900 tons, and
collective horse power of engines, 5000,
to be maintained successfully for four
consecutive hours 1t is calculated that
with that horse power II knots per honr
would be made. The protective deck,
which is a main feature of both the Bal
| timore and gunboat No. /, is said to be a
new departure in man -ofwar shipbuild-
! ing for the United States. The proteo-
| tive deck avoids, to a considerable extent
the necessity of heavy iron plating. On
such vessel the crew may be in more
danger than on one with heavy iron plat
ing above the water line, but there is no
great probability that the vessel would
| be forced out of action. One advantage
had in the building of such a vessel is
! that it will not be 70 large IA those re-
CURED to carry heavy plating, or ss the
two battle-ships which are to be contract
| ed for at an early date. These two ships
are TO be of 5000 tons each, and will have
very heavy plating and heavier guns than
! those which the Baltimore is TO carry.
There will be 10 good work in the Bal
| timore or the gunboat No. l except the
| finishing and fittings in the saloon and
other apartments. The Baltimore will
! have double bottom, in compartments,
so that if a torpedo or running aground
should bresk the outside bottom, it is
thought the filling of one o. the com
| partments with water woNld not disable
| the vessel. Between the double bottom
and the line where the protective deck
begins there is a space Of about eight
feet with only single plating, but all tina
will be at considerable depth in the
water. The top of the protective deck
! will be near the water line. The protec-
! tive deck will be inside tho part of the
vessel above water, and if that part
should be pierced by a shot, The lat:er, it
is said would glance of the inclined side
of the protective deck, The steel plating
/ of the protective deck will be two inches
| thick. This deck will have a fat top,
while the protective deck Of the gunboat
/ No. will be arched. All the frames and
| platings of both vessels will be steel
! The Baltimore il to carry four eight.
/ inch and six ak inch guns, a secondary
/ battery of fourteen machine guns, and
FIVE torpedo guns. The eight-inch guns
are to be capable of throwing two-hun-
bred and fifty pound shot, with one hun
bred pounds of powder, for a distance of
eight or ten miles. The six inch guns
are to throw one-hundred- pound shot,
with fifty pounds of powder, distance OF